POLICY CONSIDERATIONS FOR GERONTOLOGY AND GERIATRICS CONTENT IN HEALTH PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

Abstract Health professions educators in fields such as nursing, medicine, and social work struggle to prepare practitioners for the needs of growing numbers of older adults. In 2008, the National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine identified that fewer than 5% of physicians choose to specialize in geriatrics, and even fewer in geriatric psychiatry, leading to significant shortages in mental health care for older adults. While other health professions such as clinical social workers or psychiatric nurse practitioners could potentially fill this gap, the story is the same in social work (4%) and nursing (1%). These numbers have improved marginally over the last fifteen years, but growing numbers of older adults have exacerbated shortages. In these professions, and in others, the model has been to have geriatrics/gerontology as a specialty, rather than integrated into the curriculum. Yet the interest in this specialization is not there and practitioners will have more exposure to this population than they might think. Members of the Social Research Practice & Policy section of GSA consider how we can shape policy to enhance geriatrics and gerontology education, and where AGHE can support health professions education (nursing, medicine, social work, etc.) and interdisciplinary health professional education in gerontology.

reliance upon supraspinal elements of the motor control system increases with age and many age-related diseases, especially when an individual must navigate unfamiliar environments and/or simultaneously perform cognitive tasks like talking, reading signs, or making decisions.Noninvasive transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) can safely and selectively induce both acute and longer-term changes in brain network function.It thus enables cause-and-effect study of the motor control system and moreover, holds promise as a therapeutic strategy to counteract age-and disease-related alterations in standing, walking, and mobility.The purpose of this talk is to introduce the fundamentals of tES, describe the effects of tES on the neural control of mobility in older adults, and finally, discuss current limitations and related avenues for future research and development within this rapidly-growing field of study.

PRESIDENTIAL SYMPOSIUM: EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND STRATEGIES ACROSS GSA: BUILDING BRIDGES WITHIN THE SOCIETY
Chair: Tina Newsham Discussant: Joann Montepare Across GSA member groups, we teach, train, and mentor in a variety of ways and for different purposes.Education is a tie that connects us across the Society.In this AGHE Presidential Symposium, representatives from the different GSA membership sections will discuss the educational needs of their members and share strategies they employ with their students, employees, mentees, and others to ensure the best preparation of the workforce.Researchers, care providers, educators, advocates, and others must be well-prepared to address the opportunities and demands of an aging society.Tamar Shovali, from Behavioral and Social Sciences, will present empirically supported approaches to intergenerational communication and training to foster relationships between aging individuals and their communities.Biological Sciences member LaDora Thompson will highlight current educational efforts in translating geroscience discoveries into new medical advances.Health Sciences member Matt Peterson will present strategies, challenges and opportunities learned from a currently funded health sciences mentoring program.Social Research, Policy, and Practice member Nancy Kusmaul will discuss efforts to shape policy to enhance geriatrics and gerontology education.AGHE Chair Joann Montepare will serve as discussant, exploring how AGHE can build more bridges by integrating educational efforts in several unique ways.Collectively, presenters in this session will highlight the connections and opportunities for collaboration across GSA member groups.

POLICY CONSIDERATIONS FOR GERONTOLOGY AND GERIATRICS CONTENT IN HEALTH PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
Nancy Kusmaul, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland, United States Health professions educators in fields such as nursing, medicine, and social work struggle to prepare practitioners for the needs of growing numbers of older adults.In 2008, the National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine identified that fewer than 5% of physicians choose to specialize in geriatrics, and even fewer in geriatric psychiatry, leading to significant shortages in mental health care for older adults.While other health professions such as clinical social workers or psychiatric nurse practitioners could potentially fill this gap, the story is the same in social work (4%) and nursing (1%).These numbers have improved marginally over the last fifteen years, but growing numbers of older adults have exacerbated shortages.In these professions, and in others, the model has been to have geriatrics/gerontology as a specialty, rather than integrated into the curriculum.Yet the interest in this specialization is not there and practitioners will have more exposure to this population than they might think.Members of the Social Research Practice & Policy section of GSA consider how we can shape policy to enhance geriatrics and gerontology education, and where AGHE can support health professions education (nursing, medicine, social work, etc.) and interdisciplinary health professional education in gerontology.

ADAPTING TO THE HEALTH RESEARCH MENTORING LANDSCAPE: THE ENHANCING RESEARCH FOR ONLINE LEARNERS (ENROLL) PROGRAM Matthew Peterson, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, North Carolina, United States
Engaging students in mentored research has contemporary challenges, including virtual environments and student disengagement.This provides an opportunity to develop novel methods to attract and support students in health research, with the goal of encouraging a career in the health sciences.The overarching objective of EnROLL is to attract, support, and engage on-line and on-campus learners in faculty-led, interdisciplinary health science research.The specific aims of EnROLL are, 1) to develop a focused program and curriculum in faculty-led research to engage online graduate and underserved undergraduate students in health research, 2) to develop and implement an effective model of research mentor training for dissemination, and 3) to assess the value in the program as a model to disseminate for engaging students in faculty-led health research.Now in the second year of funding, attracting students into the mentoring structure has been the biggest challenge.To address this challenge, novel strategies for student recruitment and engagement have been implemented.A stipendsupported scholars program and novel intergenerational events are two examples.Engaging external institutional partners has also yielded differing perspectives and collaborations.This program's recruitment challenges have yielded new programmatic strategies and unforeseen opportunities.The need for creative and adaptable programming will be highlighted and discussed.

BUILDING BRIDGES TO BETTER INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS
Tamar Shovali, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida, United States Intergenerational relationships are necessary to prepare the workforce for careers in the field of gerontology.Intergenerational interaction and reflection have been shown to result in valuable skills, such as positive attitudes toward older adults, increased knowledge of aging and needs of older adults, genuine relationships with older adults and a greater appreciation for older generations, greater comfort with the idea of themselves aging, and high satisfaction when embedded into course curriculum.Intergenerational contact in the structure of undergraduate courses also has reciprocal benefits, such as recognizing commonalities, building appreciation and trust, and creating a sense of belonging between generations that can be lasting.Building on empirical evidence, an intensive three-week intergenerational relationships course for first year students using intentional integration with general education goals, while also training students in basic understanding of aging is described here.Students collaborated with the college's Academy of Senior Professionals, a unique community of retired older adults engaged in lifelong learning, to develop a college-wide intergenerational event.Considerations, outcomes, and lessons learned will be reviewed.

TRAINING THE NEW SCIENTISTS OF AGING: BUILDING ON GEROSCIENCE OPPORTUNITIES LaDora Thompson, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Geroscience is focused on improving health and well-being by beneficially altering or reversing the cellular and molecular changes that take place as we age.These changes, uncovered by the biology of aging research, can contribute to a progressive loss of function and the onset of frailty and many diseases prevalent at older ages.In the 21st century there is a need for increased engagement with researchers and clinicians across multiple disciplines to translate these geroscience discoveries more effectively into new medical advances.This presentation will highlight efforts to increase awareness and understanding of these geroscience discoveries to stakeholder groups and to build a more diverse and interdisciplinary geroscience workforce, including researchers, clinicians, and members of the public.To date, there are creative education programs aimed at enhancing and expanding broader awareness of geroscience research (e.g., skills development, hands-on research experiences, formal curriculum informed in the science of aging, engagement activities dealing with ethical, economic, political and societal ramifications of extending human lifespan, development of shared methods, networking with experts in the geroscience field, materials and outreach programs on the topic of geroscience), which target basic, translational, clinical researchers and members of the public.Lastly, this presentation will outline the activities within the Translational Rehabilitation in Geroscience Initiative and the Translational Geroscience Network, a collaboration of researchers looking at clinical interventions that target fundamental mechanism of aging to delay, prevent or treat age-related diseases and disabilities as a group, instead of one at a time, enabling more-rapid translation of therapies.